Pennypack Trust Celebrates the Fourth of July Early with Natural 'Fireworks' Display

June 28 was a particularly uncomfortable night to be a human.

However, the oppressive heat and sweltering humidity that hung over the 800 acres of the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust (PERT) made for perfect weather to bring out hundreds and hundreds of fireflies.

These little bioluminescent creatures were the main reason for a gathering of nearly 60 people at PERT. Each person was eager to catch glimpses of fireflies in their natural habitat.

The gathering is part of an annual PERT event called “Fireflies: A Field of Fireworks!" According to Brad Nyholm, PERT director of stewardship, the event takes participants on an after-hours walking tour of the nature preserve.

Event participants not only learned of the science behind fireflies, but also about preserving their habitats.

“Everything about the Pennypack Trust is about natural areas and their conservation,” Nyholm said.

During his PowerPoint presentation, Nyholm informed event participants of several ways to protect fireflies in their own backyard:

• Don’t mow your grass at dusk, as this is the time when fireflies emerge for the night after hiding from the sun during the day.
• Avoid using too many chemicals on your lawn.
• Allow growing your grass a bit taller, if possible, which will help fireflies grow during their own life cycle.

With past firefly events, Nyholm said an average of 15 people would attend. This year’s attendance was larger due to PERT’s outreach efforts, working with Jenkintown-based marketing firm Thomas J. Paul, whose vice president, Jeff Paul, has recently become a PERT board member.

This partnership resulted in an overwhelming pre-registration response, where PERT had to close off registration, partly due to a lack of facility space. Many first-time participants attended the program.

According to Jeff Paul, he said he hopes to see an increase in membership, as PERT is in need of continued maintenance and new facilities to accommodate visitors for such programs as the fireflies walk.

“I’m very interested to see the fireflies,” Richard Booth, PERT president said. “I sit in my back yard, but there's not a lot of them, and I understand here they have native bushes that attract them, so I expect to see a whole plethora of them.”

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